Underground sheeting methods



Dec. 18, 1962 w, s, BOOTH ETAL I 3,068,656

UNDERGROUND SHEETING METHODS Original Filed Dec. 25, 1957 INVENTORS WELDON S. BOOTH ALFRED J. COAKLEY miam/mam ,L

ATTOR EYS States Uite 6 Claims. (Cl. 61--41) This invention relates to construction of retaining walls in excavations and more particularly to methods for applying horizontal and diagonal sheeting having full contact with the earth wall.

This application is a continuation of application Serial No. 704,550, tiled December 23, 1957, now abandoned.

Prior methods of constructing underground sheeting generally involve sinking vertical H-beams along the line of the wall, then excavating and placing sheeting, such as planks, behind the vertical beams or their ilanges. Another method has been to pour concrete piers with notches in them and to place the sheeting in the notches.

Both of these methods involve excavating between the vertical support members. It is practically impossible to do this with machinery, so that hand digging is required. Hand work of this type is extremely expensive, and furthermore, is not as eiective since a smooth surface cannot readily be achieved by hand digging. This results in space voids between the sheeting wall and the earth wall.

The present invention provides a method for eliminating all hand digging between driven vertical supports and places the sheeting in contact with or at a distance from the outer face (i.e., facing in the direction of the excavation) of the support members and with the earth wall between the support members. With the present method a straight wall can be machine-made, thus eliminating voids between the earth and the sheeting. More specically, in

3,068,656 Patented Dec. 18, 1962 quickly assembled wall on the desired line, which will retain the unexcavated earth. The fastening may be by bolting, welding, with studs, or clamping with clips as will be further discussed.

With the present method the sheeting need not'be cut to t between the vertical supports but may overlap to eliminate all cutting of the sheeting, and by using the present method, it is also easier to install sheeting in diagonal, viz., off-horizontal directions if that is desired.

These and other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following specilication and drawings,

` of which:

practicing the method of the invention disclosed herein,

a plurality of H-section piles or the like are first installed by driving or the equivalent, vertically into the ground about the perimeter of those areas where excavation for the structure is to take place. Ideally, the two parallel flanges which form the sides of the H-section piles should be held parallel to the building line while the pile is being driven in order that horizontal sheeting members may be easily attached to those anges which face the excavation. As a practical matter, it has been found inherently a part of the pile driving operation that these ilanges are quite often driven into positions of angular misalignment with the building line because there is a marked tendency for a substantial portion of piles in a given setto rotate while being driven. It is also inherent in pile-driving vertical supports that some of a given set will not adhere to a line parallel to the proposed wall of sheeting.

The method of. the present invention accommodates any angular misalignment of the H-section flanges and also variations in the distances by which individual piles may be set back from a proposed straight line of sheeting.

When attaching horizontally extending sheeting members to the H-piles according to one sequence, sheeting fastener means is placed against the outside face of a sheeting member, H-iiange fastener means is secured to one of the anges and then a tension link is inserted therebetween at an angle to at least one of the fastener means which is a complementary angle to the angle of misalignment (viz., the sum of these two angles equals 90) and thus compensates for the angle of misalignment. The link is secured to both fastener means, and is of a selected length such that at least each section of the sheetingV members when attached to the piles as described will form a substantially straight line of sheeting entirely within the excavation and outside the ilanges of the piles, thu's forming a strong and FIGURES l and 2 are plan sectional views of prior methods of construction;

FIGURE 3 is a detail view showing one form of clip connection useful in the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical view of the clip fastener of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE l5 is a plan sectional view illustrating the method of this invention; and

FIGURES 6 and 6A show another clip construction for use in the invention.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2, there are shown two prior methods of construction. FIGURE l shows vertical beams 1, 2 and 3 having a cross-section similar to a capital H which are driven into the ground to provide support for the sheeting or planks 4, 5 and 6 which are placed between them, the ends of the planks or sheeting extending behind the flanges of the vertical support members.

FIGURE 2 shows another prior method of construction wherein concrete piers 10 and 11 are poured having notches 12 and 13 into which the sheeting 14 is placed. One of the diiiiculties with these methods of construction is that the areas between the vertical supports must be dug out to place the planks, and this must be done by hand digging between the vertical supports. Hand digging for practical purposes cannot provide the smooth earth wall that could be provided with machine Scrapers. Therefore, there are many voids or spaces between the sheeting and the earth wall. This gives rise to minor displacements of the earth, which may become dangerous in some cases. If the voids are notiilled, the sheeting system may be endangered by increased stresses due to jarring, vibration, rain, ow of water, and lateral pressure of superimposed loads.

Also, with the prior method the planks or sheeting must be cut and tted between the vertical support members.

If the vertical support members are not equally spaced, this involves custom tting of all the sheeting.

The new method of construction permits machine digging since there is no excavating required between the supports. Machine scraping can provide a relatively smooth earth wall so that, there will be almost complete contact between the earth wall and the sheeting. This eliminates voids or spaces behind the sheeting and minimizes any earth movement.

The present method is versatile in that any size sheeting may be used since the sheeting may be aixed to the beams at any point along the sheeting. Also, the sheeting may be installed in a diagonal direction. Therefore, a single plank may be fastened to three or more vertical supports so that even if one connection fails, there will still be some supporting strength remaining. This method of continuaccesso' present invention for` fastening the sheeting 29 to I beams or H beams 26. H-sections are illustrated because their tianges are of uniform thickness, which is preferable. The clip comprises a `LJ-shaped member 27, for instance of half-inch steel, which fits over the Vflange 28 of the verticalv pile and which is clamped to the sheeting 29 by means of the bolt 30, cross-piece or plate 31 and nut 32. The bolt may be connected through both sides of the curved or U-shaped member if desired. The clip, as shown, fits between two spaced planks 29 and 33 as shown in FIG- URE 4. lf it is desired to eliminate any spacing, the sheeting may be grooved or notched to accommodate the thickness of the clip member, or mounted on the outside of the clip.

Other specific variations ofthe clip may be used. For instance, the outer plate 31 could be curved to support the planks underneath or may be made long enough to clamp more than two planks.

This method makes feasible the re-driving of vertical supports, which could not be driven to proper depth due to sub-surface obstructions, after excavation and sheeting have been partially completed. Prior methods of sheeting behind flanges of suppont prevented re-driving,

sheeting. Following 1re-driving, clips or other fastenings can be replaced.

The present invention provides a method for fasten-ing horizontal or diagonal sheeting members to vertically `driven support members such as H-section piles which are, Vas 4is likely, out of alignment. The misalignment, as shown in FIGURE 5, may be of two kinds; spatial misialignment, eg., variations in lateral spacing or set-back from aV proposed line of sheet-ing; and angular misalignment of the pile flanges relative to the line of sheeting to which they are to .be attached.

IAS shown in FIGURE 5, three H-section piles 39, 40 and 41 have been driven into the earth adjacent to an area to be excavated. YAlthough ideally, it is best perhaps to Vdrive the respective piles 39-4 in a single line, Le., at

-a constant distance from Vthe Vproposed line along which the retaining Ywall -is to be constructed, nevertheless, moreY often than not, this is not possible because of earth conditions. As illustrated, the piles 39, dit)V and 41 are set back different distances from the proposed line of sheeting. Again, it has been found to be inherently a part of any pile driving operation when using ange piles of this type, that a substantial portion of a given set ofV piles will tend to rotate while being driven despite attempts to Irestrain them. When this happens, the outer or sheetingattaching flange will be in -angularmisalignment with the proposedline of sheeting; This effect has been indicated in the illustratedrpileV 41 whichis in misalignment approximately relative ,Y to the proposed line of sheeting.

vDuring the driving of piles, the amount of angular misalignment will necessarily be'dependent upon certain conditions of the soil, including rock, gravel, water,V etc., the

exact force and direction used in driving the pile, the o effectiveness of restraining rotationjthereof, and/slight 4 -essarily by using 'flange clips which are somewhat different from the clips described in connection with FIGURES 3 and 4. The sheeting, plate and interconnecting bolt are the same as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 and have thus been given .the same reference numerals. One method of assembly is as follows:

In the instance where a horizontal sheeting member or members, is to be attached toa pile such as pile 41, which has rotated during the driving-thereof, the sheeting may be fastened to an angularly misaligned flange in such a manner as to compensate both for the angle of misalignment and for the spatial misalignment or lateral setback. This may be done, more specifically, by placing one of two horizontal ladjacent sheeting members 29, 33 coincident with the proposed line of sheeting. Then a clip 4.2 having a bolt 30 extending therethrough as shown, will be placed with the slotted portion thereof over a part of the misaligned flange 44. It should be noted that the preferred H-section piles have the adjacent surfaces of all flanges disposed at right angles to each other and the outer ends' of the -anges form sharp edges. Thesejpiies are preferred because they permit the use of clips, such as clip 42, the front edge of which will bite into the flange surface when wedged thereagainst. Also, the upper end of the ange will tend to bite into the clip, as shown. This eiect would not occur to the same extent were sloping inner flange surfaces or bevelled edges, as in I-beams, used.

Once the flange has been located within the slot in the clip e2, the free end of the bolt 30 will be brought toward the excavation and between the sheeting members 29, 33. The length of the bolt will be governed by the lateral set-back, if any, as Well as by the angle of the pile to which the sheeting is being attached. By angle of the pile is meant the angle by which Athe flange of ythe pile has deviated from parallelism to-Vthe plane of the sheeting. A sufficient length of threaded bolt will be permitted lto protrude beyond the outer faces of the sheeting members `29, 33 to accommodate thereon a plate 31 and a nut 32. After the bolt 30 has Vbeen so positioned, the plate 31 lwill be placed against the outer faces of both sheeting members and over the protruding threaded end of the bolt 30. The nut 32 may then be threaded onto the end ofthe bolt so as to cause tension to be lapplied thereto, thus drawing the clip 42 andthe plate 31 togetherf When Vthis is done, two effects will be observed. First, the clip 42 will be rotated somewhat and spaced inner parts ofthe slotted portion thereof will bite into or become wedged against the material of the ange 44 which it encompasses. Secondly, the angle of misalignment of the flange relative to the line of sheeting will be compensated. In the present instance, as shown, the mis/alignment in the flange is compensated for by the complementaryrangle'which the bolt 30 makes relative -to the sheeting-'retaining plate 31. Obviously, the complementary angle can be at either end of the bolt or divided between thertwo ends. Y

The present invention permits horizontalsheeting to be removed intact from any location without loss of ground, loss of sheeting materials or fastenings. Prior methods of horizontal sheeting would not permit removal of'sheeting without cutting or otherwise destroyingrsheetdimensional Vdifferences between adjacent'flanges VYof the piles themselves-which tend to induce a rotationfthereof.

sheeting members 'to flanges of the vertically driven pile will accommodate angulartflange rotation) `and also lateral (setback variance) misalignment of thepilesrwithY respect .to the'plane-of the sheeting. The ligure shows how this method'may b e practiced preferably, but not necing. a p

Sheets can be fastened in a number of lways, both against orjaway from the support to maintain a reasonably straight line of sheeting. As previously stated, the

- sequence in which the bolt or link is secured at its respective ends will differ depending on circumstances.

Another vembodiment of clip suitable for our purpose is shown in `FIGURES 6 and 6A. This clip comprises aright angle steel Vbracket 51 having a slot 52 to receive fonl the flange of the support beam. A nut 53 may be i Vwelded on the bracket orthehole in the bracket tapped.

yarious length ,bolts 30 v`maybe used as required lto compensate for spatial misalignment. A clamping member is preferably used in contact with the sheeting, such as plate 31 in FIGURE 4. T his clip can be used with a bolt formed integrally with the bracket 51 or with a tapped hole or welded nut to receive any length bolt or fastening desired. One or more sheets can be fastened with one clip as desired.

The present invention provides not only a method which makes feasible the removal of sheets from any location at any time and, equally important, sheets can be replaced. Prior methods of horizontal sheeting did not permit replacement of sheets. Some engineers have objected to the use of untreated lumber as horizontal sheeting as it decomposes in a great many places leaving voids in the ground, which could result in failure and/ or settlement of 'adjacent structures. Since this method permits removal of sheeting where desired, the above objection is eliminated.

In practicing the present invention sheeting planks can beplaced tight against each other if desired to prevent loss' of -ground incertain types of soil. The sheets can be notched or holes drilled to accommodate the clips and bolts to give a neat fit with little or no space between sheets. vWhere spaces between sheets permitted it, repacking behind sheets with granular material has been possible, but tight sheeting has heretofore prevented inspection and repackingl where unusual sub-surface conditions created voids behind the sheets. 'I'he present invention now permits removal of sheets, visual inspection of ground behind adjacent sheets, repacking, and replacement of sheets. The present method may be used with various vertical supports, for instance, timber piles, or milled lumber of a variety of sizes and shapes. For irregular shapes, bolting would be more convenient. However, the specific shape of the clip may be modified for particular applications. Clips of the type shown have been tested by placing loads on commonly used sheeting. In every case the sheeting failed without any failure of the clips.

Therefore, the present invention provides new and improvided means and methods lfor constructing underground sheeting for earth retaining walls. The present method is faster and less expensive than the previous methods and is stronger and safer in all respects. The present method of ush mounting permits the use of random length sheeting which may be connected to three or more vertical supports which may be connected diagonally or with staggered joints from the top down. By using the clipof the present invention, the speed and eciency of the general method is considerably increased. I'he present system eliminates any necessity for hand digging between the vertical supports and permits machine digging which can provide a smooth earth wall in uniform direct contact with the sheeting.

The disclosed invention thus provides a method of conditiiculties encountered in present commercial practice. Since the above description relates to a particular embodiment, including specific means for carrying out the method of the invention, it is merely illustrative, the scope of the invention being deined in the appended claims.

We claim:

l. The method of constructing a retaining wall for deep excavations comprising the following steps: pile-driving a plurality of flanged piles vertically into the ground about the periphery of an area to be excavated with at least one of said piles positioned with its outer longitudinal ilange angularly misaligned relative to the outer flanges of adjacent piles, at least some of said piles being driven into the ground to a depth greater than the proposed depth of the excavation to enable them to withstand substantial lateral forces from said wall; excavating within said periphery to expose portions of said piles facing the area to be excavated including at least a portion of one outer longitudinal ange of each; and attaching generally horizontally extending sheeting members to said piles by securing flange-fastener means to an angularly misaligned ange, placing sheeting fastener means against the outside face of a sheeting member, inserting between both said fastener means a link at an angle to at least one of said fastener means which is complementary to said angle of misalignment, securing said link to both fastener means, and placing said link under tension so that said sheeting members when thus attached to said piles comprise a line of sheeting of which the outer surface lies entirely within said excavation to form a retaining wall outwardly of said piles.

' 2. The method of constructing a retaining wall for deep excavations in which sheeting members are attached to the longitudinal flanges of ilanged piles by means of slotted clips in which the width of the slot is greater than the thickness of the flange and which employs sheeting retention plates and linking bolts for connecting said plates to said clips, comprising the following steps: pile-driving a plurality of said piles vertically into the ground about the periphery of an area to be excavated, whereby a substantial proportion ofv said piles are positioned with their outer longitudinal flanges angularly misaligned relative to the predetermined line of the retaining wall, at least some of said piles being driven into the ground a distance greater than the proposed depth of the excavation to withstand substantial lateral forces from said wall; excavating within said periphery to expose portions of said piles facing the area to` be excavated including at least one longitudinal flange of each, attaching generally horizontal sheeting members to said piles by making an assembly of two Y of said sheeting members disposed horizontally edgewise structing earth retaining walls which avoid many of the 755 one above the other, placing one of said clips so that its slot receives an angularly misaligned flange, placing one of said plates against the outside faces of said sheeting members, and positioning a linking bolt between the adjacent edges of said sheeting lmembers at an angle to at least one of the plates and clips which is complementary to said angle of misalignment so as to compensate for said angle of misalignment, securing said linking bolt to said plate and to said clip, and placing said bolt under tension such that the flange clip becomes angularly wedged against the pile flange and the plate bears llat against the sheeting members, said sheeting members thereby being secured to said piles to form a retaining wall within said excavation outwardly of said piles.

3. The method of constructing a retaining wall for deep excavations in earth which contains obstructions, comprising the following steps: pile-driving a plurality of flanged piles vertically into the earth about the periphery of an area to be excavated, whereby at least one of said piles becomes rotated so that it is positioned with its outer longitudinal ange angularly misaligned relative to the predetermined line of the retaining wall adjacent thereto; driving said piles into the ground to a depth required to withstand substantial lateral forces from said wall after excavation to a certain depth has been completed, except for at least one pile which is driven to refusal against an obstruction at a depth less than said required depth; ex-

cavating within said periphery to expose at least one flange of each pile contiguous to the area to be excavated; attaching generally horizontal sheeting members to said piles by securing flange fastener means. to an angularly misaligned flange, placing sheeting fastener means against the outside face of a sheeting member, inserting between both said fastener means a link at an angle to at least one of said means which is complementary to said angle of misalignment, securing said link to both fastener means, and placing said link under tension; said sheeting members when thus attached to said piles forming a line of sheeting which lies within said excavation to form a retaining wall outwardly of said piles; continuing the excavating to said obstruction; removing said obstruction;

disengaging the ange fastener means from the pile which was driverito refusal; driving said last-named pile to a greater depth; resecuring saidlast-named ang'e fastener means to a iiange of Ythe pile from which it was removed, and re-applying tension to the link attached to said last named flange fastener means whereby to re-attach the sheeting'memb'ers l'to said last-named pile.

4,. ".Ihe method ofV constructing va retaining wall for deep excavations comprising the following steps; piledriving a plurality/*of flanged piles vertically into the ground about the periphery ofran area to be excavated with at least one of said piles positioned with its outer longitudinal flange angularly misaligned relative to the outer ilanges of adjacent piles, at least some of said piles being driven into the ground to a depth greater than the proposed depth of the excavation to enable them to withstand substantial lateral forces from said wall; excavating within said periphery to expose portions of said piles facing the area to be Vexcavated including at least a portion of one outer longitudinal ange of each; and attaching generally horizontally extending lsheeting members to said piles by: securing ange fastener means to the flange of an angularly misaligned pile, placing sheeting fastener means against the outside face of a sheeting member, inserting between and securing to both said fastener means a tension link at an angle to at least one of said fastener means which is complementary to the angle of misalignment, and placing said link under tension tending to draw said sheeting member toward said misaligned pile, whereby all said sheeting members when thus attached to said piles comprise a line of sheeting of which the outer surface lies entirely within the excavation to form a retaining wall outwardlypf said piles. v Y

5. The method of `constructing a retaining wall for deep excavations comprising the following steps: piledriving a plurality of flanged piles vertically in to the ground about the periphery of an area to be excavated with certain of said piles positioned with their outer longitudinal anges angularly and spatially misaligned relative to the anges of adjacent piles, at least some of said piles being driven into the ground to a depth greater Ythan the proposed depth of the excavation to enable them to withstand substantial lateral forces from said wall; excavating within said peripheryto expose Vportions of said piles facing the area to be excavated including at least a portion of one outer longitudinal flange of Veach; and attaching generally horizontal extending sheeting membersto said piles by: `securing ange-fastener means to flanges of angularly and spatially misaligned piles,

placingsheeting fastener means against the outside face of the sheeting members, inserting between and securing to both vsaid fastener means a tension link of a length adapted to compensate for the spatial misalignment of each pile, said tension link being at an angle to each of said fastener means of which the sum is complementary to the angle of misalignment of the respective pile, and placing said links under tension tending to draw said sheeting members toward the misaligned piles, whereby all said sheeting members when thus attached to said piles comprise a line of sheeting of which the outer surface lies entirely within the excavation to form a retaining wall spaced outwardly from said piles. p

6. The method of constructing a retaining wall for deep excavations comprising the following steps: piledriving a plurality of anged piles vertically into the ground about the periphery of an area to be excavated with at least one of said piles positioned with its longitudinal outer flange angularly misaligned relative to the outer anges of adjacent piles, at least some of said piles being driven into the ground to a depth greater than the proposed depth of the excavation to withstand substantial lateral forces from said wall; excavating within said periphery Ato ex pose the outer longitudinal anges of piles facing the area to'be excavated; and attaching generally horizontally extending sheeting members to the flanges of saidV piles, including the llanges of said misaligned piles, by securing a plurality of fastener means respectively at one end each to a plurality of the outer longitudinal anges of said piles, thereafter placing sheeting fastener means against the outside face of at least one sheeting member; and moving said respective fastener means relative to one another to support said sheeting member from said outer longitndinal ilanges, said sheeting members when thus supported from said piles forming a retaining wall outwardly of said piies and entirely within said excavation. 

